Alerts

About JaxView Alerts

An alert is an action that is triggered when a event notification rule has been met. This alert action could be a notification like an e-mail, or an action in the form of SOAP request or an SNMP trap.

Alerts are associated to Services via event notification rules. The following figure describes the relationship between alerts, rules and Web service operation monitors.




Working with the Alerts Tab

The Alerts tab is divided in to two main sections. On the left side is the Alerts object tree that you use to add, edit and navigate to alert definitions. On the right is a display panel you use to edit alert definitions or view alert actions that have been generated by JaxView. The following sections describe how you work with alerts in JaxView.

Alerts object tree

The Alerts object tree is a hierarchy of alert objects defined in JaxView. Alert definitions that are in the Alerts object tree can be assigned to rule definitions in the Rules tab. The alerts then become associated with the monitors to which the applicable rule is assigned.

The contents of the right side display panel of the Alert tab page is determined by the context selected in the left Alerts object tree. Each object node in the left Alerts object tree includes an action menu that you access by selecting the node and then use the right mouse click to display the node action menu. The following table describes the nodes in the tree and their associated actions:

Object Node

Action Menu Item

Description

Alerts Root node

Add New Alert

Add a new alert definition to the Alerts object tree

Alert type definition node

Assign to Rule

Assign the selected alert definition to a rule definition

Edit

Edit the selected alert definition

Delete

Delete the selected alert definition from the Alerts object tree

Enable

Enable the selected alert definition (if it has been previously disabled)

Disable

Disable the selected alert definition.



Alert History Tables

The Alerts object tree includes a root node that when selected displays the Alert History table in the right panel. This table is the history of all alerts generated by JaxView. The table only shows the last 20 by default. The following figure is an example of an Alert History table displayed in the right side panel when either the Alerts Root node or a specific alert definition node is selected.




Alert History tables include four columns of data. The following describes the table contents.

Name
The name of the alert definition as it appears in the Alerts object tree. This name is the Title entered in the alert definition page when the alert is created. This name is also a hyperlink you use to view details about the alert action. In this example, the hyperlink will display a copy of the text of the email alert that was generated.
Time
The time and date that the alert action was generated. This corresponds to the time when an event notification rule was met for a Web service monitor.
Status
Indicates whether the alert action was successfully executed. In the example here, the alert action was not successful.
Type
Indicates the type of alert that was generated. In this example, the type is an email alert.

Alert Types

JaxView currently includes several event notification alerts. This includes sending an email message, an SNMP trap alert that can be sent to an Enterprise Management console, or a SOAP request alert. To use an alert, you must configure an instance of the alert type as an object to the Alerts object tree.

To add an alert definition to the Alerts object tree

  1. Select the Alerts tab from the Main View navigation menu

  2. Click on the Alerts root node in the left side object tree menu

  3. Right-click the mouse to display the action menu for the node and select Add New Alert. The Add Alert page is displayed in the right panel

  4. Select the alert type you want to add from the Add Alert list by clicking on the Alert Type name. The Add Alert configuration page for that alert type is displayed in the right panel

  5. Complete the add alert form as indicated and click the Save button near the bottom of the form

  6. After a short refresh cycle, the new alert definition is added to the Alerts object tree

Note: If you'd like other types of alerts please send e-mail to engineering@managedmethods.com.

The following sections describe the JaxView alert types and their configuration properties.

Email Alert

This alert type will send an e-mail to a set of addresses notifying people that an event notification rule has been met and alert has been triggered.

Email Alert Properties

Title (required)
The title for this alert. This title will be displayed in the Alerts object tree view as a reference to this alert
Description (optional)
A short description for this alert. For example, you can add a more detailed description of what the alert does and its destination.
Disabled:
Check this box to disable this alert. This will prevent the alert from being generated even if the event notification rule to which the alert is associated is met. Clear the box and click the Save button to re-enable the alert.
Email Address:
Enter one or more valid email addresses that should receive this alert. Separate multiple email addresses with commas.
Subject:
Enter the text that should be used in the Subject field for the email when it is sent.
CC Address:
If you want to send a copy of the alert to other email recipients add their addresses in this text box.
Template:
Use this selection list to select the email template file to use for formatting the content of this alert. The template files are text files stored in the <jaxview_install>/templates/mail directory. The templates allow the user to customize the format of email that is being sent. Please contact support@managedmethods.com for information about creating new templates.

Script Execution Alert

This alert type, when triggered, will execute a script (.bat, shell, perl, etc). This makes a powerful event generation mechanism, since one can write a script to generate a wide variety of events. The script needs to be in the <jaxview_install>//scripts directory.

Script Execution Alert Properties

Title (required)
The title for this alert. This title will be displayed in the Alerts object tree view as a reference to this alert
Description (optional)
A short description for this alert. For example, you can add a more detailed description of what the alert does and its destination.
Disabled:
Check this box to disable this alert. This will prevent the alert from being generated even if the event notification rule to which the alert is associated is met. Clear the box and click the Save button to re-enable the alert.
Script Name:
Name of the script from to be executed. You can create your own scripts. The scripts must be stored in the <jaxview_install>/scripts directory.
Script Parameters:
A comma delimited list of parameters to pass to the script. You can use intermediary or monitor properties such as <status> or <_name> as a parameter and the value of those properties can be used as parameters to the script.

SNMP Alert

This alert when triggered will send an SNMP Trap to a list of SNMP hosts.

SNMP Alert Properties

Title (required)
The title for this alert. This title will be displayed in the Alerts object tree view as a reference to this alert
Description (optional)
A short description for this alert. For example, you can add a more detailed description of what the alert does and its destination.
Disabled:
Check this box to disable this alert. This will prevent the alert from being generated even if the event notification rule to which the alert is associated is met. Clear the box and click the Save button to re-enable the alert.
Message String:
Enter the message string that will be a prefix to the SNMP trap.
SNMP Host:
Enter a comma-delimited list of SNMP Hosts names or IP addresses of SNMP hosts. The host(s) need to have implemented an SNMP Trap console that has the ability to receive SNMP Traps.
SNMP Object ID:
This is the object id that identifies the agent (JaxView server) to the console. Some example ID's are:
HP Open View Event = .1.3.6.1.4.1.11.2.17.1
System - MIB-II = .1.3.6.1.2.1.1
Microsoft - Vendor MIB=.1.3.6.1.4.1.311.1.1.3.1.2
System - Host Resources MIB=.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.1
SNMP Community:
The community string for the SNMP Trap. Usually this is "public".
SNMP Trap ID:
This is the type of trap to be sent. There are some predefined types such as: ("cold start", id="0"),("warm start", id="1"),("link down", id="2" ),("link up", id="3") or an enterprise specific type. If enterprise specific then enter 6 id where id is the enterprise specific id. The number 6 tells JaxView that this is an enterprise specific id.
Template:
Choose the template file for formatting the SNMP trap message content to be sent. The template files are located under <jaxview_install>//templates/snmp directory. Each line in the template will be sent as a separate SNMP variable. If the first line of the template file is of the form: [Agent Host: hostname or ipaddress] , then the trap will be sent with that hostname or IP address as the host agent of the trap. If no such line exists, by default, the IP address of the machine that JaxView server is running on is used as the source of the trap.

SOAP Alert

When triggered this alert will invoke a Web service request using a SOAP message.

SOAP Alert Properties

Title (required)
The title for this alert. This title will be displayed in the Alerts object tree view as a reference to this alert
Description (optional)
A short description for this alert. For example, you can add a more detailed description of what the alert does and its destination.
Disabled:
Check this box to disable this alert. This will prevent the alert from being generated even if the event notification rule to which the alert is associated is met. Clear the box and click the Save button to re-enable the alert.
Operation Name:
Select an operation to be invoked by this alert. If operation is not in the list then the Web service needs to be added into the JaxView system from the Add Web service right click menu in the Services tab.
SOAP Action:
The URI for the SOAP action of the http header in the request
Parameters:
This is a comma delimited list of parameters to be used to invoke the Web service. For example: param1,param2,etc..

JMS Alert

When triggered this alert will send a text message to an ESB or a Message Provider using JMS.

JMS Alert Properties

Title (required)
The title for this alert. This title will be displayed in the Alerts object tree view as a reference to this alert
Description (optional)
A short description for this alert. For example, you can add a more detailed description of what the alert does and its destination.
Disabled:
Check this box to disable this alert. This will prevent the alert from being generated even if the event notification rule to which the alert is associated is met. Clear the box and click the Save button to re-enable the alert.
ESB/MQ:
Select the Enterprise Service Bus or Message Queue to which the message should be sent. This list displays the ESB's and MQ's that you have added to JaxView in the Admin tab. If the list is empty, you can add an ESB definition to the system using the Admin tab.
Topic Name:
The name of the topic to which the message should be posted.
Message Template:
Select a template file to use for formatting the message. The template files are located under the <jaxview_install>/templates/jms directory. Please contact support@managedmethods.com for creating new templates.
Message:
If not using a template then enter the text of the message to be sent.